Judee Sill turned a criminal past and gospel-inflected piano into hymn-like songs of rapture and redemption as the first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum Records.
MOODS · haunting · spiritual · melancholic · baroque-pop · redemptive · introspective
BIOGRAPHY
Judee Sill (1944-1979) grew up amid old Hollywood money marked by early loss: her father died when she was a child, and her brother was killed in a car crash soon after. A troubled adolescence that included armed robbery and heroin addiction led to time in reformatory school, where she learned piano and organ and began kicking her addiction to pursue songwriting.
She became the first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label, releasing her acclaimed self-titled debut in 1971 and Heart Food in 1973, both praised critically despite modest sales. Sill died in 1979 of acute cocaine and codeine intoxication; her unfinished third album, Dreams Come True, was later completed and released in 2005.
WHY THEY'RE COOL
Sill's music fused Bach-inspired counterpoint and four-part chorale structures with lyrics steeped in Christian imagery of rapture and redemption, setting her apart from her Southern California peers. Her songs were covered by the Turtles, the Hollies and Cass Elliot, and she left a lasting mark on Warren Zevon, Andy Partridge, Liz Phair, Beth Orton, Bill Callahan and Bonnie Prince Billy. Long overlooked, her two Asylum albums were reissued to renewed critical acclaim, cementing her status as a singular, if underappreciated, songwriting talent.
GEORGE'S PLAYS
George has played this artist 4 times.
PLAYED ON WOKE1
